Monday, November 13, 2006

News Updates....

Several injuries to report:

1)AppleDaily reports that Chunichi Dragons pitcher Wei-Yin Chen underwent surgery on Monday in Japan for his throwing elbow. Chen saw only limited action this year with the Dragons nigun team before getting shut down- appearing in 9 games - with 34.1 IP, 1 Win, 3 Losses, and a 4.98 ERA. What can I say - another Taiwanese casualty in the NPB - Grrr!Hopefully the 21 year old will be able to bounce back quickly after his surgery.

2)En-Yu Lin, who struggled against South Korea on Sunday, has been experiencing discomfort in his throwing elbow and is seeking medical attention. Lin, one of the aces of the NT staff when healthy, stated that there is a high probability that he will not participate in the Asian Games in December.

3)Si-Yo Wu, who was scouted heavily by NPB scouts - particularly the Chiba Lotte Marines during the Konami Cup, injured his neck while pitching against the Samsung Lions. Wu is also reported to be a big ?-mark for the Asian Games roster at this point. The other 2 Taiwanese players who received considerable attention from NPB scouts during the Konami Cup were sluggers Chin-Feng Chen and Chih-Sheng Lin. The LA New Bears office is refuting the rumor that pitcher Yu-Wei Hsu is being considered by the NPB - citing it as just hearsay only.

With the injuries to Wu and Lin, the NT pitching depth for the Asian Game is looking awful thin. With Kuo and Chiang as the aces of the staff, the team will need good performances from S.W. Tseng, W.L. Pan, and C.F. Yang. Also Chin-Feng Chen is reporting that he does not want to participate in the Asian Games secondary to being overly fatigued and wanting to give the younger guys a shot on the international stage.

Other News:

Chien-Fu Yang who was outstanding in his ND versus Japan, will get the start tomorrow versus the Netherlands in the I-Cup. A win is crucial as it would give Taiwan a little more breathing room in placing in the top 4.